Temperament timer



Dec. 2, 1969 F. T. CONWAY 3,

TEMPERAMENT TIMER Filed Feb. 9, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2; 20 v "W I 26 Q 4e 5| 4! ss =1 Ii a W F/cs..1

INVENTOR fled T Conway BY 64 am- ATTORNEY Dec. 2, 1969 T. CONWAY TEMPERAMENT TIMER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 9. 1968 INVENTOR F720 7 [0/7 way ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,481,240 TEMPERAMENT TIMER Fred T. Conway, P.0. Box 701, Monterey, Calif. 93940 Filed Feb. 9, 1968, Ser. No. 704,345 Int. Cl. Gg 7/02; G10b 3/00 U.S. Cl. 84-454 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A timing device for determining exact timing of the beat note of different coinciding harmonics for use in facilitating tuning of a keyboard musical instrument comprising a rotatable cone, motor means for rotating the cone at a constant speed, a follower including a rotatable disc contacting the surface of the cone and linearly movable along the axis thereof, means on the disc for actuating an audible or visible signal upon each complete rotation, and a linearly adjustable scale of musical notes adjacent the cone whereby the position of the slide may be adjusted to permit the precise determination of the beat note occasioned by tuning forks vibrating at different rates to determine exact pitch.

This invention relates to a timer for facilitating the tuning of musical instruments, particularly such keyboard type instruments as the piano, and has as its primary object the provision of an audible or visual indicator which will be actuated at precisely timed intervals in accordance with the frequency of an individual tone or half tone.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of such a timer wherein substantially infinite variation in timing within the normal limits of the device is obtained.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device of this character which is sturdy and durable in construction, extremely accurate and sensitive, exceptionally reliable and efficient in operation, and relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

As conducive to a clearer understanding of this invention it may here be pointed out that in the evenly tempered scale which is in virtually universal use today, each successive half tone is related to the next lower tone by a fac tor of the twelfth root of two. Notes in this scale, which have relatively simple frequency relationship such as approximately one-half, three-quarters or the like, which readily break down into twelfths, have harmonics which coincide in frequency, and in tuning by ear the tuner strikes the notes simultaneously and adjusts the tuning until no beat note between the harmonics is apparent. The frequency of the particular string is then tuned slightly off to compensate for the temperament of the instrument. When this is done wholly by ear, the results vary in success. An object of this invention is therefore to give a precise beat count which will enable the tuner to determine exactly the off tuning required in accordance with the temperament of the instrument.

Mechanically the device consists of a truncated cone which is rotated at a constant speed, a follower including a rotatable disc slida'ble along and in continual contact with the cone, and an audible or visual signal actuated on each rotation of the disc, the signals enabling the precise division of a beat into twelfths, without total reliance upon the ear.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in part be pointed out as the description of the invention proceeds, and shown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view partially broken away of one form of device embodying the instant inventive concept;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view, parts being broken away, of the device of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 as viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged plan view of the adjustable scale comprising an element of the instant invention.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Having reference now to the drawings in detail, the device of the instant invention is generally indicated at 10, and includes a housing or casing 11 having a lid 12 hinged thereto as at 13. The casing contains a precisely tapered truncated cone 14 having an axle 15, the opposite ends of which are mounted in suitable journals 16 in the side walls of the casing. A pulley 17 is mounted at one end of the cone, and is driven by a belt 18 from a pulley 19 mounted on the drive shaft 20 of a suitable electric motor 21 contained within the casing. Current is supplied to motor 20 through wires 22 and a cable 23 which extends outwardly through a suitable opening 24 in the side Wall of the casing, and terminates in a plug 25 which may be plugged into any available source of electric power.

Alternatively, if desired, the motor may be battery driven from suitable batteries, not shown, contained in the casing.

A partition 26 may be provided to divide the casing 11 into a motor compartment and a cone compartment. The partition has an opening 27 therein through which belt 18 extends.

A rod 30 extends transversely across casing 11 in parallelism to the axis of cone 14, and has its ends seated in open journals 31 on the opposite side walls of the casing to facilitate removal thereof. A follower generally indicated at 32 is linearly movable along the rod 30 and consists of a pair of arms 33 having openings 34 I:I'6il'l through which the rod 30 extends. An axle 35 extends across the outer ends of the arms 33 and has rotatably mounted thereon a disc 36 having a friction contact collar 37 which is in constant contact with the outer surface of cone 14.

It is to be noted that follower 32 is freely rotatable about rod 30 as a pivot, and is positioned above cone 14 so that when the device is in operation, gravity constantly forces the periphery of band 37 into contact with the adjacent portion of the cone.

A pin 40 is carried at a peripheral point on disc 36, and once during each rotation engages an electrical contact finger 41, which is in turn carried by an insulating block 42, which also carries a terminal 43 in electrical association with electrical contact finger 41.

Suitable electrical wires 44 extend from terminal 43 to an audible or visible signal or light 45 which is carried by panel 46 adjacent the side of cone 14. Power is supplied to the signal in any conventional manner, as by means of batteries, not shown.

A pointer 50 is mounted on one of arms 33 and indicates on a scale 51 the exact position of the slide 32 relative to the number of beat phases pertinent to a selected note, the notes being indicated on the scale as at 52 in FIG. 5. The difference between adjacent notes in twelfths is also indicated as at 53 on the scale.

Scale 51 is mounted on panel 46 by means of a screw 54 which extends through a slot 55 in the scale, this arrangement permitting linear adjustment of the scale in order that each selected note may be precisely correlated with the precise position on the cone indicative of thephase beat for that precise note.

An operating switch 56 is provided for actuating the motor, it being noted that cone 14 is turned at a constant speed during the energization of motor 21, and that the speed of rotation of disc 36 is entirely controlled by its linear position relative to cone 14.

The open journals or sockets 31 facilitate the removal of rod 30, and if desired, of follower or slide 32, for purposes of packing or'cleaning the device.

In the use and operation of the device, for example, in testing the major thirds from C-E to middle C-E, it is desired that the temperament be set by adding 7 of a beat per second in sequence. If tuning forks A-440 and 435 are sounded together, a resultant pulsation of 5 beats occurs, or A of a tone. One line C is set to 523% and an octave C is tunedd own, and then E, the two are sounded together, and the pitch of E is raised or lowered until the beat disappears, at which time there is provided a perfect Third. The E is then raised until the beat is five per second, and there is provided a perfect tempered Third. The following Third is Ci$F which must be of a beat per second, and so on to C and E of the octave above, which beats ten per second.

The above example obviously may be expanded to cover all tones.

Tuning by perfect pitch or chords or electric tuning devices does not temper the piano so that the tones will be exactly one-half tone apart. This is due to the fact that the piano has a bridge, and it is impossible to set the scale so that the tones will be onehalf tone apart, from the vibration standpoint. By means of the instant device the tones may be precisely timed to provide exact results.

From the foregoing it will now be seen that there is herein provided an improved timer which accomplishes all of the objects of this invention, and others, including many advantages of great practical utility and commercial importance.

As many embodiments may be made of this inventive concept, and as many modifications may be made of the embodiment herein shown and describe-d, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A temperament timer for facilitating the precise tuning of stringed instruments in conjunction with a. plurality of tuning forks comprising a cone, means for 4 rotating said cone at a constant speed, a follower including a member in contact with said cone, means for varying the linear position of said follower relative to the linear axis of said cone to vary the speed of rotation of said member, and signal means actuated by rotation of said member to facilitate the counting of pulsations occasioned by tuning forks vibrating at different rates.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the means for rotating said cone includes an electric motor, a source of electric power therefor and a driving connection between said motor and said cone.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein said follower comprises a rotating disc, a slide mounted adjacent said cone carrying said disc, and a pin on said disc.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said signal means comprises an electrically actuated light and a switch in circuit with said light, and said pin closes said switch momentarily upon each complete rotation of said disc.

5. The structure of claim 3 wherein said signal means comprises an electrically actuated audible signal and a switch in circuit with said audible signal, and said pin closes said switch momentarily upon each complete rotation of said disc.

6. The structure of claim 2 wherein a casing is provided containing said cone, said follower and said signal means.

7. The structure of claim 6 wherein said source of electric power comprises battery means contained in said casing.

8. The structure of claim 7 wherein a scale is provided adjacent said cone having indicia thereon indicative of musical notes.

9. The structure of claim 8 wherein said scale is linearly adjustable to provide precise timing.

10. The structure of claim 3 wherein means are provided for constantly biasing said disc against said cone.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,920,024 7/1933 Stehli 23561 2,679,782 6/1954 Ryder 84-454 3,380,332 4/1968 Panicci et al. 84-484 STEPHEN TOMSKY, Primary Examiner 

